Presently, the broadcasting of pre-recorded material entails the use of several tapes of each show and operator intervention to ensure that quality audio and video material is constantly being broadcast (over the air or through cables) to subscribers at remote locations. To broadcast one show over a television channel using conventional techniques, at least one promotional tape is required in addition to the show's master tape(s) in order to provide transmission of television quality video images and to permit the insertion of promotional material between playings of the show. Moreover, repeated play of tapes causes them to stretch, break and wear out, thus necessitating additional back-up tapes and the presence of operating personnel to maintain the quality of the video broadcast and the expected broadcast schedule. Thus, conventional broadcasting methods and systems, even in systems considered automatic, require several copies of pre-recorded material and an operator on duty to resolve malfunctioning tape machines and changes in promotional material. The operating costs of an automatic broadcast system are substantially increased by such maintenance.
The broadcasting of pre-recorded shows with related promotional material is presently accomplished by creating an additional video tape of selected show segments desired to be inserted as promotional spots, often prepared by a movie studio, and storing the prepared video tape in its own video tape playing machine. Depending upon the number of different promotional spots stored on such a video tape and the desired broadcasting order of the spots, several tapes of the promotional spots and respective tape playing machines may be required.
In the broadcast system disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,491 to Lambert, a computer retrieves spot messages, but the system requires additional tape(s) and video tape playing machines to enable the broadcast of the spot messages. Additionally, the storing of duplicates of the same recorded material is necessary to run spot messages out of recorded sequence. In contrast, the present invention eliminates the need of creating and/or storing additional video tapes for broadcasting promotional material.
Outside the television broadcast industry, a video disc apparatus providing organized, automatic playback of a series of still pictures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,755 to Baumeister. Currently two types of video discs are commercially available: constant angular velocity (CAV) and constant linear velocity (CLV) type discs. CAV discs, such as those used in Baumeister's system, store individual still pictures on concentric tracks where one revolution of a disc transmits the stored information of one still picture frame. Hence, CAV discs are rotated at a constant angular velocity in the playing means and are accessed by frame numbers. Other systems using video discs to access at random and transmit still pictures stored in one frame of a constant angular velocity (CAV) disc are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,136 to Ciampa et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,764 to Pocock et al. However, these prior art systems do not address accessing and inserting segments of a complete show into a broadcast transmission.
CLV video discs store audio/video signal information in tracks of equal (constant) length which are spirally formed from a center of a disc. CLV discs are not rotated at a constant angular velocity, but at a constant linear velocity. Motion pictures are often recorded on CLV discs which are currently available for consumer purchase in video stores and the like.
In the cable television broadcast industry, systems comprising computerized data processors for responding to subscriber selection of a "pay per view" movie by telephone are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,387 to Walter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,522 to Lambert and U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,684 to Clark et al. An embodiment of the Clark et al. system employs the use of a laser video disc player to store and access entire selected recordings; but Clark et al. does not address insertion of promotional material.
There still exists a need in the broadcasting service industry for a system and method of programming and operating a television station that is simple and truly automated.